FORT FRANCES, Ont. – SIJHL Final is now set. The Fort Frances Lakers will challenge the Minnesota Wilderness. A Jordan Christianson goal 3:58 into overtime saw the Fort Frances Lakers rally late, then come away victorious by a 3-2 score, in game 7 of their Superior International Junior Hockey League semifinal series vs. the Dryden Ice Dogs Tuesday evening at Ice for Kids Arena.
With the triumph the Lakers take the best-of-seven affair 4-3 and will now meet the Minnesota Wilderness in the SIJHL final and play for the Bill Salonen Cup league championship.
A game schedule for the SIJHL best-of-seven final will be announced once it is finalized.
Dryden opened the scoring, on the power play, late in the opening period as Mike Butler beat Fort Frances starter Talor Joseph at 18:14.
Following the scoreless middle session the visiting Ice Dogs made it 2-0 five minutes into the final frame as Chris Belhumeur finished off the work of Tyson Holder and Austin Lewis, who picked up his second assist of the night.
The Lakers finally solved Dryden netminder Eric Sczymcyk with 3:22 remaining as Jon Carlson struck during the late stages of a Fort Frances man advantage opportunity.
Then with Joseph on the bench in favour of an extra attacker, Carlson connected again burying the equalizer with just 15 seconds remaining in regulation to force extra time.
That set the stage for the dramatic conclusion to the series with Christianson scoring the game-winner sending Fort Frances to their second consecutive SIJHL final.
